


Inescapable: A New Life

by Kurenai



Category: teen wolf - Fandom
Genre: AU, Gen, M/M, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Young Derek, more tags will be added when and if necessary
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-03-19
Updated: 2014-04-03
Packaged: 2018-01-16 06:47:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,166
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1335937
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kurenai/pseuds/Kurenai
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A new world, with the hope of a new future, but maybe looking into the past of another could change the inescapable outcome of this one.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> So this is the story I was planning on writing for the Scott McCall bang. But I dropped out of the bang, b/c I'm not good with deadlines, I procrastinate, and there is college. Funnily enough it only took me 2 to 3 hours to write this bit, so I guess if I dedicated time to the story, I would have at least reached the mini bang limit of 5k.
> 
> Anyway, I guess I should warn for a slight description of burns, and for ooc, b/c I don't think that I could ever fully get into the head space of a character I didn't create.
> 
> And last, but not least this isn't beta'd, but know I'm critical of my work, and this will probably be updated a lot to erase any and all mistakes.
> 
> So enjoy.

 

\----

 

Silence, that’s what it was.

Nothingness, that’s what it felt like; if he was feeling at all. Was this even real? Was this a dream? Was this more…

His body felt numb, it felt immobile. He dare not try to move, so he stayed, he laid there.

Was that what he was doing?

He must be resting then; resting so long his own body could not catch up and awaken with his mind. What other reason could there be?

But he dare not move, he just stayed in place and embraced the nothingness.

A sound, so low, awoken his senses.

It grew loud in volume as it came near.

It was the wind.

The wind was coming to greet him.

It caressed his face and kissed his eyes open.

Was his eyes closed this whole time?

The night sky was there with open arms, there were stars trying to shine for him, to be seen by him.

His mouth turned downward, he felt bitterness claw his insides. He didn’t want to see.

He turned his head to the side eliciting a pain so sharp, so harsh; he had to bite his lip to keep from screaming his agony.

Why did he hurt?

Was he broken?

Head still turned; he opened the eyes he had closed, letting his blurring vision rest on a patch of dark grass.

His vision cleared as all remnants of the pain he felt dissipated.

He felt numb again.

He dared not move, and instead he lets his eyes wander.

His eyes followed the patches of dark grass of its own accord, letting it lead him to something.

His heart started racing, as his eyes continued to follow …something. His chest was moving too fast, he was breathing too hard.

His breath hitched as he realized the dark grass was stained with something.

He remembered.

 

\----

 

“Scott!” Gray eyes snapped open.

“Shh.” A hand caressed dark tresses drenched in sweat. “Shh, it’s okay Derek.”

“Mom I…” His voice cracked, he felt parched.

“Was it the same dream? Did you dream about Scott again?”

Derek swallowed “I …yes.”

A damp rag was pressed against his brow. “Maybe we should call Dr. Deaton, tell him you’ve been having dreams about this person.”

“No, don’t.”

A laugh escaped from his mother’s lips. “What is with boys and men alike, not wanting to see a doctor.”

A pout formed on Derek’s lips “He’s a veterinarian.”

“He’s still a doctor, just for animals, and for us.”

Derek huffed slightly and let his mother continue fussing over him. He let her hands card through his hair as she made points against him on why going to see Dr. Deaton would be a good idea. But he wasn’t really listening; his mind was too busy racing in trying to figure out why he kept dreaming about this person. The dreams, they felt so real, they felt so true.

His mother’s hand reached forward to card through his hair again, and he flinched at the touch.

“Derek, what’s wrong?” Her face was laced with wrinkles of worry.

“Your hand, it’s hot.” Derek said sitting up and scooting back against the headboard.

Her hand went out to reach for him again, and he pressed as far back as he could away from her.

“Sweetie?” It was asked with a saddened smile, tone laced with confusion, but Derek couldn’t hear it. He could only see her.

She was burning; Derek was watching his mother burn. Her skin, it was melting, boiling, burning away the outer layer of skin. Her dark long beautiful hair was falling off. And her clothes were darkening, blackening, shriveling up.

The sad smile slipped from her lips, but her eyes remained soft. She lifted the hand she had dropped when he had moved away from her. “Burn with me.” She said.

Derek’s mouth opened, but nothing could escape it, no words could form, no scream would come, not even a whimper would escape.

“Don’t you want to burn with me?” She dropped her hand and instead scooted closer to Derek, forcing him into a corner his bed made against the wall. “We could be together Derek, we can all be together.”

“No.” It was the only word he could finally say.

It was the wrong word.

His mother’s eyes were no longer a loving brown, but red, a red that showed anger, that showed coldness, a red that struck a fear deep within him. Derek could barely swallow down the lump in his throat, his heart was racing, his vision was getting blurry he was so scared.

She moved closer to him, reached for him, letting her burning, blistering hand wrap around his neck. “You did this to me, you killed me. You killed all of us, burned us, you let it happen. This is your fault.” Her grip tightened. “This all your fault.”

Derek struggled to get away from the iron grip, eyes closed in desperation as he struggled away from the hand around his neck. Tears leaked from closed lids, grunts escaped from chapped lips. He didn’t want to die.

“You deserve this, you deserve to die”

He didn’t want to die.

 

\----

 

“Derek.”

He was being shaken.

“Derek, wake up.” He could hear.

“It’s only a dream, a nightmare Derek. Wake up.”

Nightmare, he was having a nightmare. It wasn’t real.

He stopped struggling in the grip he was in, and everything else stopped too, there was silence except for the heavy breathing from him, and… an eye peaked open. “Scott?”

“Yeah, are you okay?”

“I …yes” he breathed out. He sat up, and leaned against the wall, no headboard.

“Are you sure? You were tossing and turning, and grunting about how you didn’t want to die, and you wouldn’t wake up and-”

“I’m fine” Derek assured quickly interrupting the worried rambling. He looked into deep chocolate brown eyes. “It was just a dream.”

“About?”

“The fire.” He whispered.

“Oh.” The sound of Scott swallowing could be heard in the quiet of the room. “I didn’t know you still got those dreams.”

“I don’t, or I thought I didn’t.”  He looked down into his lap, watching as his fingers unconsciously wrapped and unwrapped themselves around each other. “Get them anymore.” He finished, almost as if an afterthought.

Scott reached for him, wanting to comfort him, wanting to make him feel better, but he couldn’t get the image of his mother’s blistering and melting hand reaching for him from his mind’s eye, and he flinched as Scott’s hand came near.

“Sorry.” He said, as he watched the hand fall limply to the side of the body it belonged to.

“It’s alright; you have nothing to apologize for. I’m just glad you’re okay.” The soft tone of Scott’s voice has always been soothing, and this time is no different.

He felt his body relax, and he instead reached out to grasp Scott’s hand. He squeezed it, in reassurance to Scott and to himself. “Did I wake up you and Melissa?”

Scott squeezed back with a small smile playing on his lips “Nah, my stomach did that.” His other hand reached up to run through his bed head, pulling the black curls apart and making his hair even more of a mess. “I was going back to bed, when you started, so I got to you before you could wake mom.”

“That’s good.” Derek huffed slightly. “You know I thought I was over this.” The hand not clasped in Scott’s waved itself in the air of its own accord. “This whole being of afraid of nightmares.”

Scott pursed his lips; his brown eyes watching the frustration on Derek’s face grow. “I don’t think there’s ever a time when somebody just gets over a nightmare. Even when you face it head on, there’s still a fear.”

“I’m not a kid anymore.”

“I don’t think there’s an age limit either” was the chucked response from Scott.

The small talk died down for a while, and there was such stillness to the air, it was almost calming. Derek was not going to talk about what his dream consisted of, and Scott knew that. And it was nice to be able to have a comfortable silence with someone, even if it resulted from a nightmare.

“It’s three in the morning, you should get some sleep.” Scott let go of Derek’s hand, and rose up from the bed he was sitting on. “You have to be up in three more hours.”

Derek watched Scott walked to one of his windows, and close it. Opening the curtains instead, and letting the moon light chase the dark shadows to the darkest corners of the room.

“Mom says to close your window before going to bed, or you’ll get sick.”

“Not a kid.”

“Then why are you pouting?”

Derek quickly rearranged his face. “How did you even know I was pouting?”

Scott turned away from the window to look at him briefly before walking towards the bedroom door. “Because I know you.”

“Now try to get some sleep, we have to be up at six, and Stiles is picking us up for early lacrosse practice.”

“Ugh” Was the sound Derek gave which elicited a few chuckles from Scott.

“Aww, he’s not that bad.” Scott was leaning on the doorway looking at Derek with a face full of amusement.

“Easy for you to say, he’s your best friend.” A huff was heard. “To the rest of us he’s just Stiles.”

That elicited a small laugh which made Derek’s own lips push upwards.

Shaking his head, Scott looked over at Derek, giving him a once over, like he was making sure everything was okay, that he was okay. “You will just have to deal.”

“I’ve been dealing.”

“Always with the last word.”

“Yep.”

“Good night.” Scott closed the door softly.

“It’s not anymore.” He heard Scott’s laugh even as his footsteps moved further away from his room and closer towards his own.

Eyes, still facing the closed door, Derek smiled; he liked making Scott laugh.

Gathering the bunched covers that had gathered on his lap, Derek prepared to settle into the warm cave his own body heat made.

He froze.

Someone was watching him.

A shiver hit his body, awakening goosebumps throughout and sending the hairs standing on in.

Heart pounding in his ears, throat dry; he turned slowly, and faced the window Scott had closed only a few minutes ago.

Red eyes stared at back at him through the glass, piercing through him. He couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t think.

“No.” He whispered.

He pulled the covers over his head, back faced towards the window, as he curled into himself. His body was shaking, his eyes were watering.

“Please, please, please.” He didn’t know what he was pleading for, he didn’t know why he was pleading, or to who.

“Please.”


	2. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the kudos and the comments. I appreciate it very much, and I am glad people are intrigued. This isn't my first fic or anything, but this is my Teen Wolf fic, and my first multi-chaptered story, as my previous ones were one-shots.
> 
> As someone of you may notice my end notes is gone from the prologue, which is b/c it kept showing up in my first chapter along with the my notes for that.
> 
> I hope this isn't a thing that will continuously happen, but all you needed to know from those notes is thought process of why I chose the eyes color gray for Derek.
> 
> So here's a direct quote:
> 
> "So there tons of stories where Derek's eyes are blue or green. But I'm looking at Hoechlin's eyes and I'm thinking there's more to it. His eyes has an outer layer of light blue or what seems like blue and then close to the iris it's green and brown or greenish brown. I was battling on what to call his eyes, what is between green and the color hazel. So I did some research, and I found out that gray eyes may be called “blue” at first glance, but they tend to have flecks of gold and brown. And they may appear to “change color” from gray to blue to green depending on clothing, lighting, and mood. And it was a eureka moment. Even though young Derek is canonically hazel/brown eyed b/c of the young actor Ian Nelson, I still wanted to keep a familiar canon characteristic of older Derek which is played by Hoechlin.
> 
> So, I just wanted to explain that thought process to alleviate confusion. "
> 
> ~~~~  
>    
> Quick notes for this chapter.
> 
> 1\. This story and any of my future stories are in third person. The prologue is very much third person limited to Derek, but this story over all has third person omniscient writing to it, if that makes sense.
> 
> 2\. This story is not suppose to be dark, but I can see it going that way. When I came up with the fic idea for the Scott McCall bang, this was just suppose to be a fic that showcased the deep friendship of Scott and Stiles, the dynamic of Scott and Derek, with young Derek. It wasn't suppose to have complicated storytelling, with mystery, murder, and all those elements that make it dark. It was suppose to be just light and fun, with humor, and fluffy scenes, and I guess I can still have that, but it will be just more.
> 
> 3\. Prologues are kind of there to give you a feel for what a story may be about, my prologue seemingly focused on the thread of mystery that will be running throughout this story, but there is more to this, than that mystery.
> 
> 4\. This first chapter has a flashback which is in italics.
> 
> This is not beta'd
> 
> And with that, enjoy.

 

\----

_“Why do I let you talk me into these things Stiles?”_

_The person in question paused in the exploration of their surroundings, and turned around with an eyebrow arched high. “I’m your best friend, you love me, and without me your life would be boring. We’re one half of a two piece puzzle.” Stiles answered without blinking._

_“I question my life choices.”_

_Stiles clutched at his chest dramatically. “Ouch Scotty, you’re hurting me.” He elicited an eye roll from Scott._

_Pushing his hair away from his face, Scott continued on. “Seriously Stiles, its past midnight, we’re in the freaking woods, possibly lost. What if a pedophile finds us?”_

_“What would a pedophile be doing in the woods?” Stiles questioned looking at him as if he was out of his mind._

_“Hmm, oh I don’t know, hiding a freaking dead body of a person he killed after he was done molesting them.” Scott started, sentence laced with his own sarcasm._

_“We can’t even get dates to the seventh grade dance; I don’t know what a pervert would want with us.”_

_“I don’t think they would care that we’re losers in school.”_

_Stiles face formed one of shock. “Is that what you think of us?”_

_An angry huff escaped from Scott’s lip. “That’s not the point, focus on the point Stiles.” He was pacing, dead leaves crunching under his converse sneakers, his hands were getting sweaty too, and he was starting to breathe faster._

_“Look, we have a higher chance of running into a murderer then a pervert, so you can put away this obsession with pedophiles.” Stiles joked. “I think you’ve been watching too many lifetime movies, man.”_

_“I can’t believe you.”_

_“I can’t believe you’re getting so worked up.”_

_“It’s past midnight Stiles; we’ve been going in circles for 2 hours. It’s dark, it’s cold, it’s damp, and I’m not afraid to admit that I’m scared out of my freaking mind.” Scott spread his arms out wide indicating the forest they’re in. “Did I forget to mention we’re lost too.”_

_“You said ‘we’re possibly lost’ the first time.”_

_“Argh!” The frustrated sound echoed through the forest._

_“Okay, okay.” Stiles started, raising his arms in a placating manner. “Just calm down before you trigger an asthma attack.”_

_“Thirty minutes Stiles.” Scott could hear the grunt from the other boy as reluctant confirmation. He took a deep breath, letting his shoulders relax._

_They had agreed on this method. A system where if they are in way over their heads as a result of a plan one of them came up with, the other had the authority to call a thirty minute time, in which case the person who’s plan they’re following would get thirty minutes to get them out of the situation. Since Stiles is usually the one leading the charge to wherever, it always falls to Scott to make the call. Stiles’ has been getting pretty good with the whole time crunch thing; it seems to go hand in hand with someone who has an overactive mind._

_“Onward we march.” Stiles pulled Scott after him._

_The moon was their only source of light, it was the only source they needed. And despite what Scott had said earlier about how damp it was, or how cold it felt. The bare trees, the moonlight, it was still beautiful._

_It was like being in a photograph._

_\----_

_They’d been walking for a while before Scott started to hear it. Maybe his senses are heightened because of fear, or maybe it’s because it’s so quiet, but he swears he hears something. It sounds like, it sounds like they’re not alone._

_“Do you hear that?”_

_“No, I’ve got about fifteen minutes left to get us out here, haven’t really been paying attention to anything else.” Stiles said after taking a quick peek at his phone._

_Scott knew what he heard, it wasn't just tricks of the mind._

_And there it was again, that continuous crunch sound of someone stepping on leaves, no pause, no breaks. It was like someone was running._

_“There’s something in here with us.”_

_“Scotty.” Was the response that was childishly whined back to him._

_Scott stopped moving completely, reaching out to get a hold of the hand that was still gripping one of his wrists and pulling him along. “Shh, listen.”_

_A sigh came from Stiles lips before he conceded._

_It didn’t take long to hear it, and it was actually getting closer. Stiles heard it too if the hand tightening on his wrist was anything to go by. They could hear someone breathing hard, and the continuous crunch of someone running near them, towards them._

_It was getting closer._

_A body shot out, falling to the ground in front of them._

_It was a kid._

_A boy, that looked no older than eight._

_Scott and Stiles looked at each other before they both decided to chance whatever trap this may be and walk towards the boy with cautious steps, when they got near enough, Scott kneeled in front of the child while Stiles remained standing at his side. Little hiccups could be heard, the kid was crying._

_“Hey, are you okay?” A dumb question considering the kid was in tears, Scott knew this, but the question was neutral, and it was the only question he could think to ask other than ‘where’d you come from?’.”_

_The kid shook his head, so no, he’s not okay, obviously. Okay, time for the next question._

_“Where’d you come from?”_

_The kid points behind Scott and Stiles, which was the opposite direction of where he came._

_“What’s your name kid?” Stiles interrupts before Scott can ask another dead end question._

_The child in question looks up at Stiles his gray eyes showing brightly in the light the moon was providing. “Derek.” The kid, now known as Derek looks back to Scott, tears tracks visible before saying. “Derek Hale.” Tears were beginning to well up in his eyes again, a choked plea escaped his lips. “Please help me.”_

_“Okay.” The answer is immediate from Scott, he uses the sleeve of his red hoodie to wipe away the falling tears from chubby cheeks. “Just tell us what’s wrong.” He whispers gently._

_“My-” Derek chokes out, a sob interrupting his statement._

_“Are you lost?” Stiles decides to ask in the midst of the pause, receiving a shake of the head from Derek in response._

_“My house is, my house is burning, and my family is still there.” It was said quietly, but clearly._

_Scott looks up. “Stiles can you-”_

_“I’m already, on it.” Stiles has his phone out and is dialing 911._

_Scott is holding on to one of Derek’s hands, his thumb making soothing circles. “You’re not lost right, you know the way to back home. Do you think you can take us there, maybe we can do something before help arrives.”_

_“Okay.” It was said with a nod._

_Scott helps Derek up, wiping dead leaves and dirt from off his clothes, before turning around and kneeling. Looking back at Derek he says. “I’ll give you a piggy back ride back.”_

_He receives a small smile before the front of a small body collides with the back of his own. “Hold on.” Scott says, as his hands wrap around Derek’s legs, and he rises up on his own feet. Little hands tighten around his neck before loosening slightly._

_Scott turns to Stiles, and finds him watching them. “Do you have my-”_

_Stiles whips out an inhaler, before pocketing it again. “Let’s go.”_

_Scott smiles to himself, as he follows behind Stiles, both getting directions from Derek on the path they should take._

 

\----

 

_It didn’t take long to reach the Hale house, if he and Stiles had kept moving on their own, they’d eventually reach it, it’d take ten minutes, but Stiles wouldn’t of needed to call their parents, and they could of got themselves home by following the path that was created as cars went to and from the Hale house._

_It’s just that if they did reach the house on their own, they’d be greeted with the same scene their seeing now. A once beautiful house in a clearing of the preserve was burning, and bodies were strewn all around it. And they’d see, even in the moonlight, that the bodies didn’t have burns, but bullet holes. They’d see the blood, and they’d hear the quiet, except for the sounds the house made as some of the beams in the home gave out from extreme heat._

_Somebody was trying to kill this whole family by burning them, and if some were able to escape they were shot in cold blood._

_How was Derek able to get away?_

_“Our parents are going to kill us.” Stiles says, the heat from the fire making his cheeks flush._

_“Not if the person who did this is still around to get to us first.” Scott feels the arms around his neck tighten._

 

\----

 

“I have a late shift tonight, so dinner is on you Scott. Derek should be down in a minute so please don’t eat everything.”

“Okay mom.” The reply was said by a mouth stuffed and filled with waffles, eggs, and sausage.

Melissa made a disgusted face, before she rolles her eyes fondly. “Chew with your mouth closed please.” She gets a grunt in response as she bends down to kiss Scott’s forehead.

She takes a toasted waffle, grabs her keys and her purse. “Give a kiss to Derek for me.” Is her parting words before the front door closes.

It was only a few minutes later that the sound of footsteps gave way to the fact that Derek was coming down the steps. He came into the kitchen hair slightly damp from the shower, face a little sullen.

Scott takes the last bite of his meal, before getting up and taking his plate to the sink. He fills it with water, so it’s not hard to scrub away the syrup when he comes back from school to do the dishes that will be left over.

He grabs a plate filled with its own assortments off the counter, and brings it to Derek who’s already seated at the table. “Eat up.” He says. “Oh, and mom wanted me to give you this.” Scott puckers his lips and makes loud kissy sounds as he smacks one right on Derek’s forehead.

He doesn’t get a reaction like he usually does. Just silence.

Before he can ask what’s up, the front door is slammed open. And Stiles has arrived.

He comes into kitchen, and snatches a sausage from Derek’s plate. “Scotty.” He looks at Scott and then Derek. “Loser.” Takes a bite of the sausage before finishing. “Get your asses to the jeep.”

A chair scrapes across the floor as Derek pushes away from the table, he then gets up and leaves the kitchen without saying a word.

Stiles watches Derek leave the house before looking at Scott. “Is he sick, or is he still moping on the fact that Melissa will be fostering another kid who will be taking all your attention away from him.” The statement is said with a smirk.

“He had a dream about the fire.”

The smirk falls from Stiles lips. “Oh, I thought he didn’t get those anymore.” It’s not so much a question, but a thought said aloud.

“Me too, and you know what, I think they’re different this time.” Scott answers.

“Why do you think that?”

“Derek was mumbling about not wanting to die, he never used to do it before.”

Stiles finishes the half eaten sausage that was still in his hand, chewing thoughtfully.

“Something’s not right.” Scott says looking at the front door Derek just left through.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. So there may be some confusion with the location of the Hale house. I'll be blunt and say that even though I watch Teen Wolf and I like Teen Wolf, I have not rewatched an ep of Teen Wolf, I don't rewatch episodes of things, I'll rewatch a clip of something, but I usually don't rewatch episodes. The last time I've rewatched anything was back in my Degrassi days. I do rewatch movies tho.
> 
> But I do remember that, Scott and Stiles go to the Preserve to look for a body, fast-forwarding, Scott finds the body before being bitten. Fast-forwarding again, Scott and Stiles go back, and it's shown that Scott is looking for his inhaler as well. Derek pops up, and he mentions them being on private property, which means that the Preserve and the Hale property interconnects. I think it's fair to almost say that the Hale House is in the Preserve which is nothing but woods/forest.
> 
> I could be totally wrong, and you know what, it would be okay b/c my story is au anyway, but now you know my thought process.
> 
> 2\. Did you happen to catch the age of Scott, Stiles, and Derek in the flashback? That will tell you the age difference between Scott and Derek.
> 
> 3\. I wrote a quarter of this chapter, the night I posted the prologue, which is a big thing considering, after I write something I don't wanna write anything for a while. I'm glad I'm inspired, but don't take it to mean, I'll be updating with a new chapter every week.  
>  
> 
> So send a kudos, leave a comment, critique, tell me if there are mistakes etc.


	3. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm here with another update, earlier than planned. I was gonna wait till the week after next to even post chapter 3 since that's during my spring break, but I saw teen_wolf_obsessed's comment yesterday, and I started writing it today, it took me 2 to 3 hours to write. So you can thank teen_wolf_obsessed for this chapter coming early.
> 
> Here's a fact, my chapters will never be less than 1k.
> 
> I do want to apologize at the pace, we're not even at the school yet, it's so slow going, after a few more chapters I'm hoping nothing else would need to be established and I can get the plot rolling out faster. When I said it was a slow burn, I meant it. This is why I tagged this as gen b/c this story is more than just Scott and Stiles getting together, it's a whole world on it's own that that the relationship of Scott and Stiles happen to be a part of.
> 
> Notes:
> 
> 1\. This chapter is more Stiles and Derek, we have the whole fic for Sciles and Scerek broship, so this chapter kind of sheds a light on the dynamic of Stiles and Derek.
> 
> 2\. Italics is flashbacks.
> 
> And a reminder this story is not beta'd.

 

_\----_

 

_“Oh. My. God.”_

_“Shut up Stiles.”_

_“Easy for you to say, you’re not the one getting stepped on.” Stiles snappily retorts, voice deep from sleep._

_“Sorry.” The quiet response is said from Derek as he settles himself in between Stiles and Scott on the new queen sized bed Melissa had bought for Scott in preparation for the growth spurts that’ll be happening in the near future._

_Back towards Derek, Stiles lifts his arm and waves it over his shoulder, a grunt accompanying the gesture._

_Scott turns inward facing Derek. “Did you have another nightmare about the fire?”_

_Scott receives a nod from Derek, before a head smashes itself against his chest and tears soak his t-shirt, sobs ringing out in the silence._

_“It’s going to be okay.” Scott says as his hand rubs soothing circles on Derek’s back. Scott almost adds that ‘it’s just a dream’ but it’s not just a dream, it’s a memory._

_Scott feels more than sees Stiles turning around on the bed to face him._

_“Should I get Melissa?” is the question Stiles decides to ask._

_Scott shakes his head quickly. “Mom hasn’t had a lot of sleep with all her shifts lately.”_

_Silence gathers around them again, the only sound breaking through are the sniffles Derek makes as he tries to calm himself down._

_Scott knows Stiles is staring at him, he knows this because he’s staring at Stiles. They’ve found themselves in this position so many times now. Stiles won’t go to sleep, he won’t let Scott be the only one to stay up to comfort Derek. There isn’t really much they can do, and with the grief Derek is feeling, it doesn’t feel right to really do anything, and so they stare._

_Scott doesn’t remember what he usually thinks about on these nights, and he has no idea what Stiles thinks about, but it keeps them awake for the moment, it keeps them alert too._

 

\----

 

_It’s about twenty minutes later when even Derek sniffles have quieted; his head is still snuggled up against Scott’s chest. He looks to be asleep, but Stiles knows better, the only person really asleep is Scott; try as he might Scott is not one to stay up for long even when he’s trying to comfort a friend, Stiles knows this from firsthand experience, he had lost his mom when he was around Derek’s age and spent a majority of his time with the McCall’s when his dad started… Stiles shakes his head, it’s best not to remember, getting lost in your head is not a good thing._

_He reaches out a hand, and gently lets it rest on Derek’s head. “Go to sleep kid.” Stiles doesn’t get a response back, other than Derek seemingly trying to snuggle deeper into Scott and disappear under the covers._

_Stiles only has to wait five more minutes before Derek is truly asleep, and that means Stiles finally gets to sleep too. He turns over, back facing Scott and Derek, and snuggles into the sheet and plush comforter before closing his eyes._

 

\----

 

The sound of the jeep door slamming shut breaks Derek out of his thoughts about the red eyes that seemingly won’t escape his thoughts.

“So…”

A sigh escapes from Derek’s lips. “So…” He responds back.

Derek can see Stiles rolling his eyes through the rear view mirror.

“Scott says you’re dreaming about the fire again.”

“This is the first time it’s happened since I was a kid.”

“Scott says it’s different this time.” Stiles says ignoring what was said by Derek.

“I guess.” Derek responds.

“You guess?” Stiles questions turning around to look at Derek briefly.

“It is different.” Derek mumbles.

“I’m going to assume, that right now you’re trying to deal, trying to figure this out, and in the process you’re going shut yourself off from the people you care about.”  Stiles says. “You know you have people that care about you, people that you can talk to right?”

A silence gathers briefly before Derek responds. “I know.”

“Do you really?”

“Yes” Derek snappily responds back. “I’m in no mood for a lecture Stiles.”

“Scott is wrapping up the breakfast you didn’t eat, and is probably already stressing himself over what could possibly be wrong with you all because you couldn’t be bothered to at least say something.” Stiles sighs before continuing. “You don’t need to reassure him, you don’t need to lie and tell him you’re okay. But you need to say something, because while Scott will worry either way, at least you would have given him a peace of mind. He’ll know you’ll talk when you’re ready, and it’d stop his mind from thinking that you’re going to pull away.”

Derek doesn’t really know how to respond; his body does if the guilt that’s squeezing at his chest is anything to go by.

“Look I’m not trying to guilt trip you.” The comment is said by Stiles in the silence.

And really Derek begs to differ because he’s feeling all kinds of guilt, and wants to berate himself for at least not giving a ‘good morning’ to Scott.

“Believe me, if I was you’d know.” Stiles adds.

A snort escapes Derek’s lips.

“It’s just, Scott’s one of those annoying self-sacrificing types, I say annoying because to anybody on the outside looking in, this is a quality that’s admirable, and that’s annoying because while it is an admirable quality it very much means that my best friend is always going to get hurt, because he cares too much. And where does that leave me or Melissa, or you, it leaves us picking up broken pieces of him, trying to repair him, trying to tell him ‘you can’t help everyone, not everyone wants to be helped’, but that wouldn’t stop him from trying to blame himself.” Stiles leans back against the driver’s seat. “Goddamn those self-sacrificing types” Stiles says more to himself than to Derek.

Stiles was right, and god Derek would never say that out loud if he could get away with it. But Stiles had a point, Scott cares a lot, and he wants to help in any way that he can, so just saying something, anything at all is a big help not only to him because that’s one less thing to work himself over, but to yourself as well, because it’s a good reminder, a good affirmation that you have someone you can rely on or go to.

It can be annoying, because sometimes you don’t want help, and sometimes you want to deal with whatever on your own, and everything Stiles said of course, but isn’t every quality annoying in its own way.

Derek himself definitely admires that quality the most from Scott, but still…

Goddamn those self-sacrificing types.

 

\----

 

The sound of the passenger door opening lets both parties know of Scott’s arrival.

“Wow, its quiet in here.” Scott comments, climbing into the jeep.

“It’s what happens when you don’t have someone you can share an intellectual conversation with.” Stiles responds back starting the engine.

It’s silent for a moment before Derek speaks up. “Scott.”

“Yes?” Scott turns to face Derek as much as he can with his seat belt fastened.

“I’m sorry if I made you worried, that dream really shook me up more than I thought.” Derek says.

Scott eyes soften and a small smile grace his lips. “It’s alright.”

Scott turns around to face the front, and that was it. That was all Derek needed to do, and it was enough if the loosening of Scott’s tense shoulders is anything to go by.

Derek looks up and can see Stiles giving him a nod through the rear view mirror, he nods back.

And then Derek slams his left foot to the back of the driver seat jerking Stiles. “That’s what you get for insulting me.” Derek leans back. “And please anyone is more intelligent than you.”

“You are so lucky I’m driving you little shit.” Stiles grits through his teeth.

“Children please.” Scott interjects with mock authority.

Stiles scoffs while turning a corner.

“So do we have a name for that kid Melissa will be fostering for a few weeks.”

Derek can practically feel Stiles glee, he knows how Derek feels about this. That bastard.

“Mom won’t say much, but he's around Derek’s age.” Scott answers.

“And his name.” Stiles says a little impatiently.

Scott rubs his chin thoughtfully. “I think she said his name is Isaac, Isaac Lahey.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So send a kudos, leave a comment, critique, tell me if there are mistakes etc.
> 
> Also my tumblr is kurenai24.tumblr.com, so if you have questions you can ask there too.


End file.
